


Here, there, and back again

by Stormblue8



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon divergent post Sozin's comet, F/M, Zutara as Raavi and Vaatu from Legend of Korra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26682886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormblue8/pseuds/Stormblue8
Summary: Katara and Zuko only ever find out who they really are when one or both of them are close to death. And usually, by then it's too late.Aka Katara and Zuko are soulmates in the form of Raavi and Vaatu or the spirits of order and chaos from the Legend of Korra.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 20





	Here, there, and back again

**Author's Note:**

> A very small, 4 parted one shot as a birthday gift for the one and only Singhalu who loves Zutara and Order and Chaos in equal measure! Shockingly, and in a very happy twist, I actually got the idea for order and chaos from LoK so it seemed only fitting to do a piece with Zuko and Katara as Chaos and Order because this makes a lot of sense somehow.
> 
> Also, I didn't add a tag for major character death because technically they don't die in this life but they do in other lives? It's confusing but has a happy ending, don't worry.

She felt it only after the lightning faded away, bright sparks replaced by glowing embers, her heart beating in time with the slight crackling that remained. She waited for a split second, waited for the thunder, where there’s lightning and thunder there’s bound to be rain… Was it going to rain? When was the last time it had rained? Yesterday? Last month? 200 years ago? 

The smell of singed skin and burnt flesh reminded her of how close she had come to death, how close they  _ both  _ had come. How close he still was. Maybe that’s why she recognized him. Death had always brought them closer. Red and blue shrouds,  _ death  _ tasted like metal on her tongue. Or was that the lightning? Metal in fire, iron in blood, everything mixed up with everything else. She could hear his heartbeat too, one beat for every three of hers. Had it always been like this? Did he always breathe like this? Could she always  _ hear  _ it so clearly?

She shook her head,  _ snap out of it Katara.  _ She looked at her hands, she hadn’t realized, but she was reaching for him, blue hands scrambling for red skin, if he made lightning would it be red? 

_ Crack _

Just when she thinks she is about to reach him her vision is covered with blue. It’s strange, blue had always been calming, red, red was what aggravated her. And yet… this blue was different. Nothing good could come out of this blue. She turned to face her attacker,  _ Azula  _ almost sounds like  _ Azure,  _ if you say it enough times. How many times can you say a name in a fight?

Of course, once she knew she also knew it would end like this. He always died protecting her and she always waited, and watched, and then painted the world red when there was nothing else she could do. Not this time though. This time she is determined to win. It cannot end the same every time, can it? And so she fights, her blue against the azure. 

She wins. Shockingly, painfully, painstakingly, she has won. Is this the first time? She wonders. Her memories are fuzzy, all she remembers really is blue and red and lightning whenever they meet. Never any thunder or rain though. Suddenly all she can remember is vague memories of past lives. It is as if the flood gates are open, blue rushing through. There is something they all have in common, beyond  _ him  _ that is. She cannot remember who they are, who they are meant to be. Who is she? Where is she? She touches the ground to try and center herself and that’s when she remembers...

_ Zuko! _

She wonders how long the red boy has been lying there while she fought his blue sister. But wait, she was blue. Wasn’t she blue? She looks at her hand before placing it on his chest. It’s still blue. Blue is good, blue heals, blue saves. Blue has saved them before, but only briefly, 200 years ago. So blue can save them again. Right?

She doesn’t wait to find out. She places her hand over the angry  _ red  _ welt  _ Funny, blue made red, red makes red too though _ , and prayed to all the spirits she knew. The old ones, the new ones, she pauses at Tui and La, the push and pull, the spirits constantly circling each other, but never touching. Unbidden, the thought of two other equals pushes its way into her head.  _ Raava and Vaatu, Order and Chaos, Light and Dark, they constantly battle but none can win.  _ She wonders why their image is filling her head, they are the oldest spirits, too old for her to know them, and yet…

“Katara? Zuko is sputtering, coughing, still lying down. She can’t believe that it  _ worked _ , and yet, she knows, maybe she’s always known, that it  _ had  _ to.

He looks at her, she cannot tell if he has recognized her, tears are clouding her vision and his is blocked by...well nothing as dramatic as that. She can’t help but smile as she pushes his dark hair to the side, so he can look her in the eye.

“Thank you Katara”, he says, looking straight at her. He’s looking at her, but is he seeing her?

Regardless, she is so relieved, so grateful, so thankful just to have him back, to have cheated death just this one time. Once out of thousands of others. “I’m the one who should be thanking you”, her tears still haven’t fallen.

The two manage to stand up, they face the crazy princess,  _ she was red turned blue. Is this what happens to red that touches blue? _ She wonders looking at her own hand, touching a torn red sleeve. 

They turn away, there is nothing left to say as the fire sages lead their almost lord away. They know. They know as well as she does what is happening, but they don’t say anything. It isn’t theirs to say.  _ Whose is it anyway? _

The princess has gone, and she still has not cried. Is it possible to reabsorb tears she wonders. Her hand is still clutching his sleeve, desperate now, desperate for him to know. How can he not  _ know? _

He looks at her, at the blue hand clutching his red sleeve, and for a moment she wonders if he doesn’t want to know. If knowing is too much. After all, knowing hasn’t ended well for them before.

He takes her hand, perhaps sensing her hesitation, and looks her in the eyes, or as well as he can really, through the film that’s getting thicker and thicker by the minute. Then…

_ Boom _ , they hear thunder roll across the sky, and she almost misses what he says next. She doesn’t miss their fingers intertwined though, or the way he holds her cheek with his other hand. “it’s okay to cry you know, 200 years is a long time”

Then the rain begins to pour.


End file.
